Why are nurses disrespected so much?

[fitfabfunnurse2b]

Hi all! I just started our clinical this week as a new nursing student and there is something that's been bothering me and I just can't seem to come to terms with it... why are nurses so disrespected? I've seen nurses treat other nurses like dog crap and the pts treat them like slaves essentially-- ungrateful, degrading, etc. I'm shocked that this is the way the heirarchy is structured... Dr's are gods, nurses are peasants. We've worked way too hard in school and beyond to be subjected to this treatment. I guess this is also my phlegmatic personality coming thru... but wow!! Nurses are literally like Mean Girls. Sometimes I wonder, how did I end up choosing this profession again? It sickens me the way HCP are supposed to nurture and support their PTs yet they can't even treat their own coworkers like human beings... I guess I have "thin skin" but yikes this is not the kind of work environment I want to be in! Why can't we all show compassion towards each other? I'm a very kind person and I feel like I'm going to get spat on in the nursing world... rant over.

[/username, BSN, RN]

You might get a snowflake safe space in college, but those don't exist in healthcare. Get a thicker skin, or consider another profession.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

Doctors are in a rush. So are nurses. Is it possible that what you observed was people being brisk with each other, but not rude or "mean girls?" I have had staff speak quickly with me and realized they were not being ugly, but simply trying to get through several tasks that were all important and pressing. I am not trying to be ugly with you, but as a student you really need to focus on everything YOU need to do, not criticize the unit environment. Nursing students do well when they follow the directions of their clinical instructors and seek out opportunities to be helpful. Offer to take vital signs or help someone turn a patient. Reheat a tray or feed a patient. Do not hold up the wall. In my first semester I only gave one medication and I think it was an inhaler. The rest of the time I was helping with AM care, making beds and helping staff transfer patients. There are plenty of positive things you can do.

[Castiela]

kkbb said:

Nursing is my second career. My first career was in debt collections. People would call and yell at me, calling me all sorts of awful names because they were sent to collections when THEY did not pay their bill. They would behave as if I sought them out to pick on them. I really did try to be nice and understanding, but some made it very hard. Then there was the attorney I worked with for years who had no idea I existed. And then there was our office manager (wife of the boss) who also handled billing that did not actually enter any of my billing for a few months and I ended up being let go for not ever doing billable hours. Mean people exist in all walks of life.

I am a new nurse, but my hospital and unit are very supportive. I met weekly with the manager just to check in and "to know she is there for me." The other nurses ask me regularly how I am doing and if I need help. Or they also ask if I have ever done a skill they are going to do and see if I would like to get more experience (but not like they are trying to get out of doing something).

OP: while on clinicals you might see some things that you don't like. You are there to learn, and sometimes part of the learning is knowing where you do not want to work, both in specialty as well as facility.

You also learned what kind of nurse you do or don't want to be. I've been fortunate to work with great nurses but I remember as a student seeing some nurses and vowing I would never treat a coworker/ patient/ student like that. I give others the respect I would want and it tends to be reciprocated back. I've rarely felt disrespected. I've had some patients disrespect me, but they do that to everyone, so you breath, carry on and educate them the best as possible and realize that some people are just like that and you won't change them.

[acap2017]

Don't be afraid to stand up to Doctors. They are, after all, humans too. They just let a few more acronyms behind their name get to their head. I always like to tell doctors who have a big ego that "Honor among rank is like virtue among whores, there is none." Often times Dr.'s and patients fail to realize that nurses learn, in their undergraduate studies, the material the doctors learn in medical school. Take that with a grain of salt, though, because if you say that to the wrong doctor, they'll get pissed. They learn a lot more detail and specifics about the same stuff that we learn in undergrad, so I'm not taking away any credit from them, because they worked hard for their title. However, when physician's have an omnipotent ego and nurses are stubborn to speak with them because of that, quality communication does not exist, therefore decreasing patient outcomes.

[guest52816]

Fed_RN14 said:

Are you all really acting as if nurse bullying is not an issue? Tons of studies on how and why this exists are available. I've seen it. I've experienced it. It is definitely not everywhere, but to dismiss OP like her observations are fruitless is inaccurate, based on the research.

Yep. That's exactly what they are doing, and what they do on a regular basis whenever the topic is brought up.

It is amazing that those screaming at the OP that she "disrespected" all nurses and should look into another profession act all kinds of hurt over her comments, while telling her "to get thicker skin."

It's so darn funny!

Anybody who doesn't think that bullying is alive and well in the nursing profession should read this thread.

LOL!

[mushyrn, BSN, RN]

Because they let themselves be. They try to be martyrs. They try to be heroes. They TRY to lay themselves down like doormats for patients/admin/MDs/etc to walk all over them.

Stick up for yourself wherever you go. Let people know that you know your worth, and that they will not treat you like trash. Some nurses don't understand this because they spend too much time trying to be "lovey-dovey" and "touchy-feely" with people, and they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Forget that. Be you and stand up for yourself.

[SVHawkmom]

You have no idea how true this can be. Some of us would eat our own offspring I believe. Just to look a little better than someone else.

[fitfabfunnurse2b]

mushyrn said:

Because they let themselves be. They try to be martyrs. They try to be heroes. They TRY to lay themselves down like doormats for patients/admin/MDs/etc to walk all over them.

Stick up for yourself wherever you go. Let people know that you know your worth, and that they will not treat you like trash. Some nurses don't understand this because they spend too much time trying to be "lovey-dovey" and "touchy-feely" with people, and they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

Forget that. Be you and stand up for yourself.

Best advice I've heard in awhile. Thank you.

[fitfabfunnurse2b]

Lil Nel said:

Yep. That's exactly what they are doing, and what they do on a regular basis whenever the topic is brought up.

It is amazing that those screaming at the OP that she "disrespected" all nurses and should look into another profession act all kinds of hurt over her comments, while telling her "to get thicker skin."

It's so darn funny!

Anybody who doesn't think that bullying is alive and well in the nursing profession should read this thread.

LOL!

Exactly my thoughts! Very well said! Oh, the hypocrisy!

[BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN]

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

OP, what you describe is, in my 8 years of nursing, the exception rather than the rule.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

Fed_RN14 said:

Are you all really acting as if nurse bullying is not an issue? Tons of studies on how and why this exists are available. I've seen it. I've experienced it. It is definitely not everywhere, but to dismiss OP like her observations are fruitless is inaccurate, based on the research.

Out of curiosity, what research? Links?